A
galaxy
of
stars
including
Freida
Pinto,
Rani
Mukerji,
Vicky
Kaushal,
Ram
Charan,
Richa
Chadha,
RajKumar
Hirani,
Ali
Fazal,
Simi
Grewal
and
Malaika
Arora
will
attend
this
year's
Indian
Film
Festival
of
Melbourne
(IFFM)
to
be
held
from
August
10
to
22.
Announcing
the
details
of
the
fest,
the
IFFM
director
Mitu
Bhowmick
Lange
said
this
year
the
festival
will
screen
over
60
movies
in
22
languages
during
the
12
day
long
program
with
Tabrez
Noorani's
film
"Love
Sonia" as
its
opening
night
film.
"
'Love
Sonia'
is
a
relevant
film
for
the
festival
which
is
on
the
theme
of
inclusion,''
Lange
said
adding
that
Pinto,
Chadha,
Mrunal
Thaku
and
Noorani
will
be
present
on
the
night.
This
year
the
festival
will
honour
Shashi
kapoor
and
Sridevi,
the
two
loved
actors
of
Bollywood
who
passed
away
recently,
by
holding
special
screenings
of
their
two
iconic
films
Siddhartha
and
Chandni.
This
year's
competition
section
of
the
festival
will
have
six
categories
where
12
filmmakers
including
Rajkumar
Hirani,
Shoojit
Sircar,
Meghna
Gulzar,
R
Balki,
Rima
Das,
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
and
Suresh
Triveni
will
battle
in
the
best
director
award
segment.
Eight
films
including
Sanju,
Raazi,
Padman,
Padmavat,
Secret
Superstar,
Hichki
and
Mahanti
will
compete
in
the
best
film
categories
while
Ranbir
Kapoor,
Akshay
Kumar,
Varun
Dhawan,
Ranveer
Singh,
Shahid
kapoor,
Soumitra
Chatterjee,
Manoj
Bajpayee
and
Fahad
Faasil
will
contest
in
best
actor
category.
Rani,
Vidya
Balan,
Deepika
Padukone,
Alia
Bhatt,
Zaira
Wasim,
Bhanita
Das,
Keerthy
Suresh
and
Tillotama
Shome
have
been
nominated
for
the
best
actress
award
while
Vicky
Kaushal,
Ranvir
Shorey,
Pinto,
Meher
Vij,
Chadha,
Trimala
Adhikari
and
Samantha
Akkineni
have
been
nominated
in
the
newly
incepted
category
of
best
supporting
performance.
Seven
films
-
"Gali
Galiya",
"Village
Rockstars",
"Sir",
"Balekempa",
"Up,
Down
and
Sideways",
"Mayurkashi"
and
"Garbage"
will
compete
for
the
best
indie
film
award.
Apart
from
this,
two
Assamese
films
"Ishu"
and
"Village
Rockstars",
Malyalam
film
"The
Summer
of
Miracles"
and
the
Hindi
film
"The
Cake
Story"
will
have
their
Australian
premiers
in
the
Childrens' film
section
along
with
other
premiers.
As
its
annual
feature,
the
festival
will
also
celebrate
Indian
independence
day
on
August
11
at
the
Melbourne's
iconic
Federation
square
building
with
Rani
hoisting
the
Indian
flag.
Flag
hoisting
ceremony
will
be
followed
by
its
popular
annual
Bollywood
dance
contest
which
awards
local
dancing
talents
from
Australia.
The
fest
will
hold
masterclasses,
panel
discussions
on
cinema
and
conversations
with
guests
stars
including
Hirani,
Ram
Charan
and
Rani.